Our teacher, Mother Earth

Not only through reading, but also in my travels across the United States I found it amazingly interesting that the traditional people I met, many that I became friends with, all shared a common thread/belief. The cultural beliefs of traditional Native peoples throughout North America share the belief that human beings are no more important than any other thing be it alive or inanimate.  They believe that man and woman, plant and animal, and water and stone are all equal and share the Earth as a family.  It is those beliefs that kept this continent in the pristine shape that greeted and was seen and recorded by explorers, invaders and the settlers from far away lands.  This belief was and is so strong there was and are seasons set for the telling of our stories. For the Haudenosaunee, winter is the time chosen because it is the time when all could gather to listen to the stories and learn without disturbing the work that needed to be done.

The beauty here in North America and the pristine state of the land astounded the newcomers. The differing stories from the different Native nations all include the idea of Mother Earth as the life host. The stories stress the reciprocity that exists between human beings and animals. Native people’s stories passed down from generation to generation talk about human beings dependence on the things provided by Mother Nature to be used, respected. and seen as our teachers.

There are some Native people in Arizona (the Pima) who live in structures as they did many centuries ago. Their homes are what is today called a sandwich hut.  They are small huts made from dead saguaro cactus wood that is layered with mud. When I first saw these huts I noticed the children who lived in them running around outside of their homes seemingly as happy as any child could be, anywhere.  Their huts were cooled without using electricity. They provided shelter without harming the environment. WOW!  This was only several years ago, and it was really something to see. Here were some people living in harmony with Mother Earth.  Amazingly, too is that today even some non-native men of science are beginning to look at the cultural beliefs of Native peoples as a reality. This newly accepted and studied theory is called the Gaia Theory.

When I went to Arizona State University some years ago, one class I took had us study the Gaia Theory. I was so shocked to see that quite a few scientists actually felt that the Earth, (Mother Earth), like most if not all Native American Indian cultures believe, is a living entity. James Lovelock, in the early 1960s was invited by NASA to be part of the scientific research teams to search for life on Mars. Lovelock’s intense research led him to come to the realization that the Earth could be best described as a kind of super-organism. The Gaia Theory states that the Earth is a living entity like our own bodies - she lives and breathes. She is affected and made sick, like we are when we are poisoned by pollution. She flourishes and is healthy when her body is not abused. Today, we can see that indeed Mother earth is suffering, and in turn so are we suffering as are all other things here on Mother Earth.

Native people have traditionally stressed the close relationship between man and nature. They have stressed the need to protect the Earth and the Earth’s environment. The following are some quotations from Native people on that subject:

BEDAGI (BIG THUNDER),

WABANAKÍ ALGONQUIN, 1900s

Mother Nature is not for us... she is part of us and we, like everything else that lives and breathes upon her, are her children. Your own direct connection with Mother Earth is to be encouraged daily. Paint her portraits, swim in her waters, tend to her flowers, stroll through her glorious forests, and care for her many children: all plants, people and, animals. We must live according to her principles and choose not to pollute her body. The alternative is death to our mother - and death to her children. The Great Spirit is our father, but the Earth is our mother. She nourishes us; that which we put into the ground she returns to us, and healing plants she gives us likewise. If we are wounded, we go to our mother and seek to lay the wounded part against her, to be healed.

Brave Buffalo, Teton Sioux,

Late 19th Century

I have noticed in my life that all men have a liking for some special animal, tree, plant, or spot on Earth. If men would pay more attention for these preferences and seek what is best to do in order to make themselves worthy of that toward which they are so attracted, they might have dreams, which would purify their lives. Let a man decide upon his favorite animal and make a study of it, learning its innocent ways. Let him learn to understand its sounds and motions. The animals want to communicate with man, but Wakan Takan does not intend they should do so directly - man must do the greater part in securing an understanding.

Luther Standing Bear Oglala

Sioux 1868-1937

“The American Indian is of the soil, whether it be the region of forests, plains, pueblos, or mesas. He fits into the landscape, for the hand that fashioned the continent also fashioned the man for his surroundings. He once grew as naturally as the wild sunflowers, he belongs just as the buffalo belonged. The elders were wise. They knew that man’s heart, away from nature, becomes hard; they knew that lack of respect for growing, living things, soon led to lack of respect for humans, too.”

Mourning Dove, Salish, 1888-1936

Everything on the Earth has a purpose, every disease an herb to cure it, and every person a mission. This is the Indian theory of existence.

Fools Crow, Ceremonial Chief

of the Teton Sioux

The survival of the world depends upon our sharing what we have and working together. if we don’t, the whole world will die. First the planet, and next the people.

Qwatsinas [Hereditary Chief Edward Moody], Nuxalk Nation

“We must protect the forests for our children, grandchildren and children yet to be born. We must protect the forests for those who can’t speak for themselves such as the birds, animals, fish and trees.”

Chief Joseph, Nez Perce

“All men were made brothers. The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it. You might as well expect the rivers to run backward as that any man who was born free should be content when penned up and denied liberty to go where he pleases.”

Crazy Horse

“One does not sell the land people walk on.”

Unknown Speaker addressing the National Congress of American Indians in the mid 1960’s

“In early days we were close to nature. We judged time, weather conditions, and many things by the elements--the good earth, the blue sky, the flying of geese, and the changing winds. We looked to these for guidance and answers. Our prayers and thanksgiving were said to the four winds--to the East, from whence the new day was born; to the South, which sent the warm breeze which gave a feeling of comfort; to the West, which ended the day and brought rest; and to the North, the Mother of winter whose sharp air awakened a time of preparation for the long days ahead. We lived by God’s hand through nature and evaluated the changing winds to tell us or warn us of what was ahead. Today we are again evaluating the changing winds. May we be strong in spirit and equal to our Fathers of another day in reading the signs accurately and interpreting them wisely.”

Resolution of the Fifth Annual Meetings of the Traditional Elders Circle, 1980

“There are many things to be shared with the Four Colors of humanity in our common destiny as one with our Mother the Earth. It is this sharing that must be considered with great care by the Elders and the medicine people who carry the Sacred Trusts, so that no harm may come to people through ignorance and misuse of these powerful forces.”

Lastly. Oren Lyons, Onondaga - Earth Day - Washington, D.C.

He remarked during the twenty-fifth-anniversary Earth Day celebration in Washington, D.C.; “We don’t call a tree a resource, we don’t call the fish a resource. We don’t call a bison a resource. We call them our relatives. But the general population uses the term resources, so you want to be careful of that term--resources for just you?”

Our stories have many lessons intertwined within them. When I was a young child, my Tota would help me work out what was puzzling or bothering me through stories. One story she used over and over again was, as many people know it, “How the Hermit Thrush Got Its Song.” Like most kids I was very impatient that day because I was waiting for my aunt and uncle to arrive so we could go sledding on the big hill behind our house.  I loved when they came to visit, but waiting for them to arrive seemed to be taking forever.  My Tota saw me wiggling and parading nervously around the house, so she invited me to sit down with her and hear a story.  She asked me if I remembered the story about how the birds got their songs? After I answered yes, she began to tell a story inside that story.

She told me that while the Creator was giving out songs, some of the birds wanted to get their songs first. Some of them wanted it so badly they were being annoying. Blue Jay, for instance, was being a real pain in the neck. He kept jumping in front of the Creator making a really terrible sound trying to express his wanting to be next, but, of course, the Creator made him wait like the rest of the birds were doing. The red-winged blackbird, who did not have red bars on his wings, at that time, voluntarily helped the Creator by keeping watch and trying to control the waiting birds, especially those who were impatient. Every time Blue Jay bothered the Creator begging for his turn to be next, red-winged blackbird escorted him back to wait with the rest of the birds.  For his help, the Red-winged blackbird was given the job to guard the marshes. He was given a distinctive song to do this, and because the Creator was thankful, he was even given two red bars on his wings to show that he was indeed the guardian of the marsh. Blue Jay, on the other hand, was given a gruff song to match the one he used when he kept trying to jump to the front of the line. To this day you can hear Blue Jay’s voice, a not so melodious jeeay-jeeay, that is cried out as he hops around the ground in the winter looking for seeds.

What my Tota was doing with that story was an indirect method of teaching. This method allowed me to think about the story and what it said. It enabled me to work through the details of the story and then look at my own actions and then resolve it - this made me an independent thinker. Through her story telling, she not only entertained me, she empowered me to think for myself and resolve my problems. To this day, when certain things happen I remember the story I was told by my dear Tota who has since passed on, and I am so very thankful to her for them.